Viewed as an original historical source, popular music reflects the diverse attitudes of the American public at different times in history. Music presents insights and multiple points of view as well as an emotional impact which other historical documents, particularly written, often lack. Through music, history comes alive and students can connect directly with people and events which may otherwise seem remote to them. As such, rock and roll can be a particularly powerful tool to introduce recent historical events and issues.
Throughout its fifty-year history rock artists have used their music as a forum to address various social and political conditions surrounding them. This packet focuses particularly on “protest” or “message” songs associated with the civil rights movement of the 1960s, a cause which inspired large numbers of Americans--and performers in particular--to civil disobedience and significantly influenced subsequent events and attitudes in this country.
Viewed as an original historical source, popular music reflects the diverse attitudes of the American public at different times in history. Music presents insights and multiple points of view as well as an emotional impact which other historical documents, particularly written, often lack. Through music, history comes alive and students can connect directly with people and events which may otherwise seem remote to them. As such, rock and roll can be a particularly powerful tool to introduce recent historical events and issues.Throughout its fifty-year history rock artists have used their music as a forum to address various social and political conditions surrounding them. This packet focuses particularly on “protest” or “message” songs associated with the civil rights movement of the 1960s, a cause which inspired large numbers of Americans--and performers in particular--to civil disobedience and significantly influenced subsequent events and attitudes in this country.
Keep on Pushin': Popular Music and the Civil Rights Movement
Lyrics as Literature Home